Eric had a more traditional start in business with a degree in marketing from Virginia Tech and a job in sales. He quickly noticed however that social media was having a huge impact on sales and marketing.

Soon after, despite very little experience, he landed a job in social media marketing. Then with a little help from YouTube, he faked it till he made it…and made it he did. He eventually left that job to start his own business using the techniques he developed for his own clients.

Sales + Marketing

Because his first job was in sales, Eric offers some helpful insight about sales and marketing interaction. Overall sales and marketing departments didn’t communicate well with each other resulting in strained relationships.

One of the most frustrating things he said happened when he was working in sales was that marketing departments often try to dictate how salesmen interact with customers. But as more and more businesses are embracing “Smarketing,” this tension is gradually disappearing.

Lead Strategies

Let’s face it. Health tech companies need long term strategies, but they also need to generate leads right now. That’s why I wanted Eric to join me on Mission Marketing Podcast. Because if anyone knows how to generate leads, it’s him.

Cold leads

Somewhere in your marketing strategy you’re going to need to reach cold leads. But Eric noted that a lot of people screw up on this one. Sending a LinkedIn invite doesn’t mean it’s time to shove your sales pitch in people’s face. Instead, be super strategic.

To start, put together a list of ten to twenty people who are potentially good fits. Then interact with them for a while on LinkedIn and other social media platforms. Join their group. Offer free lead magnets or consultations. Communicate that you want to help their business succeed.

Podcasting

You can also create long term leads by raising awareness through podcasts. This gives you a reason to reach out to new people who are your target audience OR who have access to your target audience. It offers great exposure and PR opportunities.

Don’t get overwhelmed by this. Even if you only podcasted for a year, you can still get a years worth of great content and continued exposure. Not into creating a podcast? You can still do a podcast tour which entails being a guest on others’ podcasts.

Networking

Good old fashioned networking still works. Set a goal to go to at least one networking opportunity a week. But again, don’t view this as a chance to sales pitch. Use these opportunities to help others make connections, and in turn you’ll discover they’ll want to help you make connections, too.

This may mean making a mindset shift that says, “I’m here to help other people, not to make a sale.” And you’ll find as you listen and help, others will do the same.

Lead magnets

The best way to generate digital leads is by getting emails addresses. But people aren’t quick to give their emails to someone they don’t know. You can bridge the trust gap by creating a lead magnet. [*hint* Asking them to subscribe to your news letter or blog is not going to work anymore.]

Lead magnets offer something for FREE that will help your target audience. This could be a quiz, checklist, resource guide, video series, or workshop. All they have to do is share their email address to get the free resource.

Creating effective lead magnets requires some research and creativity. If you want to check out some stellar lead magnets, Sally Hogshead and Michelle Evans have nailed it. Their lead magnets help their clients learn something or help them improve something… for free.

Let me reiterate. Lead magnets are NOT signups for newsletters or sales pitching webinars. A true lead magnet helps your customer with a real problem.

Where to start?

Eric recommends beginning at the end. Work backwards through your sales process asking yourself, “What are all the steps involved from my first contact to the sale?” The larger the ticket item, the longer the sales process (as all my health tech friends know first hand, am I right?).

Then figure out what’s the easiest way to get them in your funnel while really helping them with a problem. Again, this lead magnet should not require an action step where they have to buy from you. Because lead magnets aren’t sales pitches, they’re trust builders.

Short, sweet, simple

Keep it short, sweet, simple. In this whole process be a human being, not a salesperson. Stay connected with leads by creating a follow up sequence of emails.

This doesn’t have to be hard. Start with a common problem in your target audience. Then break it down into three sub-problems to use for your follow up emails.

Promote your lead magnet

Once you’ve put in all the work to create a great lead magnet, wield it like a boss. It could be as simple as promoting it personally on social media. Or you can also use social media ads to promote your lead magnet.

But Eric emphasized that you have to be smart about this. People use social media to be social, not to see ads. So it’s up to you to create an ad sequence that will warm up a cold audience.

You could start by promoting a free article. Then a few weeks later run a testimonial ad to the same audience. After you’ve warmed up your audience, run an ad promoting your lead magnet.

In general, new strategies are the best when it comes to ads. For instance, Facebook Messenger ads are relatively new and currently have a click ratio of 80%. Older ad options don’t get the same results because customers are numb to them.

Keep in mind that if you don’t have a robust marketing strategy, you probably aren’t ready for an ad campaign. Ad campaigns work best in correlation with a solid strategy.

The takeaway

Learn from others. Eric found a host of inspiration on YouTube when he was starting out with little experience. When you’re starting out, you could easily become overwhelmed by how much you don’t know.

But don’t overthink it. Just do something. You don’t have to have a degree, and you don’t have to be afraid of the technology. All you have to do is teach yourself how to find answers online from people who are already doing it well.

Eric’s Must-Read Book

Eric is an avid reader who tries to make it to the library once every two weeks. Though fiction is his favorite genre, the most helpful book he’s read recently is Expert Secrets by Russell Brunson.

This guy created Click Funnel without raising any venture capital. All his startup money was raised doing webinars. His book is a step-by-step guide on how to create the best masterclasses with storytelling. You can get his book for free at ExpertSecrets.com.